A novel method for the fingerprinting of nucleic acids that uses at least one oligonucleotide to prime arbitrary segments of a nucleic acid template to produce a characteristic set of amplified fragments is being shown to be of increasing value in the analysis of genetic relationships. Fingerprint complexity varies from very simple, and thus ideal for genome mapping, to highly complex and more suitable for fingerprinting applications. See Bio/Technology, Vol. 10:937, September 1992, incorporated herein by reference.
DNA amplification fingerprinting (DAF) is the enzymatic amplification of arbitrary stretches of at least one nucleic acid which is directed by short oligonucleotide primers of arbitrary sequence to generate complex but characteristic DNA fingerprints.
The amplification mechanism proposed by the inventors can be seen in Amplifying DNA with Arbitrary Oligonucleotide Primers, Review 1993, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press which is incorporated herein by reference and attached hereto. Of particular interest is the description of the step by step amplification described at pages 2 and 3.
Terms and terminology used in conjunction with the invention are known in the art. For instance, "oligonucleotide", "primer", "restriction endonuclease" and "restriction enzymes", "DNA polymorphism", "Restriction fragment, length polymorphism", ("RFLP"), "random nucleic acid fragment", "DNA fingerprinting", or "DNA typing", "genotyping", "profiling", "DNA identification analysis", or "DNA polymorphism", "polymerase chain reaction" ("PCR"), "DNA amplification", "random amplified polymorphic DNA" ("RAPD"), "amplicons", "arbitrary primer", "specific primer", "degenerate base", "degenerate primer", "sequence tagged site" ("STS"), "sequence characterized amplified region" ("SCAR"), and "DNA amplification fingerprinting" ("DAF") are discussed in the patent and other scientific literature, such as in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,683,202 (Mullis), 5,126,239 (Livak et al.), PCT Publication No. WO 92/03567 Caetano-Anolles et al., which are incorporated herein by reference. For "Genomes" ("complex and simpler", see Genes IV by Benjamin Lewin, Chapter 24 (1990), ranging from as little as 10.sup.6 for a mycoplasma to as much as 10.sup.11 bp for some plants and amphibians, which is incorporated herein by reference.